Grafton man shot by police had been sought since 2011

By MEGHAN PIERCEUnion Leader Correspondent

WALPOLE - A Grafton man killed in an officer-involved shooting in Walpole on Friday was a fugitive from justice, corrections officials said.

Larry A. Bohannon, 51, of Grafton received two concurrent 20-year sentences in 1994 for a kidnapping conviction in Sullivan County and bail-jumping conviction in Cheshire County, Department of Corrections spokesman Jeffrey J. Lyons said Monday.

"He still had an active warrant for being a fugitive from justice. We hadn't seen or heard from him since June 2011," Lyons said.

Bohannon and another man, David Ward, were charged with kidnapping Donald Coull of Claremont on Oct. 18 1993, "to recoup stolen property, reportedly a generator." Coull denied taking the generator. Coull told police he was lured into a pickup truck in Claremont, shackled and driven around for three hours before being released in Bellows Falls, Vt.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Janice Rundles said Saturday that Bohannon was involved in an armed robbery in Bellows Falls, Vt., on Friday in which he "was said to have worn a ski mask and carried a handgun."

Bohannon fled to New Hampshire, with officers from Walpole and Alstead pursuing his vehicle.

"At the end of the pursuit, shots were fired, and the suspect was killed at the scene," Rundles said.

She said she couldn't comment on whether Bohannon fired at police or whether authorities recovered a handgun. She said he failed to comply with orders from police.

Bohannon was first paroled in April 1996, then returned in October that year on a technical parole violation. He remained incarcerated until March 1997. Ten years later, in December 2007, he was arrested again on another technical parole violation; he remained in prison until June 2008. When he failed to meet with his parole officer a month later, a warrant for his arrest was issued on the charge of fugitive from justice.

On Friday, Bohannon died from gunshot wounds to the head, chest and abdomen, authorities said.